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Spatial Scales of Muskox Resource Selection in Late Winter

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Spatial Scales of Muskox Resource Selection in Late Winter SPATIAL SCALES OF MUSKOX RESOURCE SELECTION IN LATE WINTER A THESIS Presented to the Faculty of the University of Alaska Fairbanks in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE By Kenneth J. Wilson, B.A. Fairbanks, Alaska May 1992 SPATIAL SCALES OF MUSKOX RESOURCE SELECTION IN LATE WINTER By Kenneth J. Wilson RECOMMENDED: Advisory Committee Chair Department Head APPROVED: Dean, Coll£ge-e£>Naturai Sciences Dean orthe Graduate School Date ABSTRACT I examined resource selection by muskoxen in late winter on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, by comparing use and availability at regional, meso, local, and micro spatial scales. Use of vegetation types for feeding appears to be based on selection of areas of shallow soft snow with high cover of sedges, dead vegetation, and total vegetation, and on selection against areas of little vegetation cover or deep hardpacked snow. Muskoxen used moist sedge, tussock sedge, and Dryas terrace tundra in proportion to availability and avoided barren ground, partially vegetated, riparian shrub, and Dryas ridge tundra. Selection for areas of shallow snow occurred within vegetation types as well as between vegetation types. Occurrence of sedges and grasses in the diet was greater than availability. Feeding zones were primarily on windblown vegetated bluffs; these areas are distributed in narrow bands along creeks, rivers, and the coastline. i i i TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT................................................................................................................................iii TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................................... iv LIST OF FIGURES...................................................................................................................vii LIST OF TABLES..................................................................................................................... ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.......................................................................................................xi INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................1 Effects of Snow on Arctic Ungulates.......................................................................... 1 H y p o th eses.................................................................................................................. 4 Resource Selection: A Question of Scale....................................................................4 STUDY A REA ........................................................................................................................... 9 Herd History.................................................................................................................. 9 Terrain and Vegetation Types....................................................................................... 11 C lim a te .......................................................................................................................... 13 METHODS................................................................................................................................ 15 Foraging Site Distribution............................................................................................. 15 Use and Availability of Vegetation Types ...................................................................18 Regional Scale Selection......................................................................... 19 Meso and Local Scale Selection......................................................................19 Vegetation Characteristics.............................................................................................20 Diet Selection................................................................................................................. 22 Environm ental V ariables.......................................................................................24 Snow Conditions........................................................................................................... 24 iv V Meso and Local Scale.......................................................................................24 Microscale..........................................................................................................26 Multivariate Modeling ...........................................................................................27 Selection Within Vegetation Types.............................................................................. 27 RESULTS ..................................................................................................................................29 Foraging Site Distribution.............................................................................................29 Use and Availability of Vegetation Types ...................................................................29 Regional Scale Selection.........................................................................29 Meso Scale Selection...............................................................................33 Local Scale Selection.............................................................................. 33 Test of Potential Bias due to Patch S ize........................................................ 35 Vegetation Characteristics.............................................................................................37 Total Vegetation Cover....................................................................................37 Cover of Forage Classes.................................................................................37 Cover of Species..............................................................................................41 Diet Selection.................................................................................................................41 Late Winter Fecal Samples..............................................................................41 Winter-Type Samples.......................................................................................43 Rumen Samples............................................................................................... 45 Environmental Variables ...................................................................................... 45 Meso and Local Scale.......................................................................................45 Snow Conditions...........................................................................................................45 Meso Scale........................................................................................................ 45 Local Scale..................................................................................................................... 47 vi Microscale.......................................................................................................................47 Multivariate Modeling ...........................................................................................50 Effect of Snow on Resource Selection.............................................................52 Snow and Vegetation Characteristics by Vegetation Type............................... 53 Selection Within Vegetation Types.............................................................................. 57 DISCUSSION.............................................................................................................................61 Selection Model...................................................................................................... 66 LITERATURE CITED ..............................................................................................................72 PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS.......................................................................................80 APPENDIX A: Cross Reference of Vegetation/Land Cover Types....................................81 APPENDIX B: Barter Island Snow Depths Over Five Years ......................................82 APPENDIX C: Vegetation Types of Used and Unused Areas Before Pooling...........83 APPENDIX D: Cover to Biomass Regression Analyses.......................................................87 APPENDIX E: Rank Order of Most Abundant Species ........................................................ 88 APPENDIX F: Diet Composition as Determined by Microhistological Analysis..........89 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1 Schematic of spatial scales used in sampling muskox resource selection. 6 2 Map of study area and coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. 10 3 Sampling design for muskox winter foraging sites in late winter of 1989 and 1990 on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. 16 4 Map of locations of muskox foraging sites that were sampled. 30 5 The proportion of vegetation types in muskox feeding zones compared to proportions in adjacent zones, nonadjacent zones, and the study area. 31 6 Paired observations of meso and local scale vegetation type selection. 34 7 Paired observations of vegetation type selection in nested halves of muskox feeding zones. 36 8 Total vegetation cover in feeding, adjacent, and nonadjacent zones. 38 9 Cover of forage classes in feeding, adjacent, and nonadjacent zones. 39 10 Dead vegetation and abiotic cover in feeding, adjacent, and nonadjacent zones. 40 11 Percent use of forage classes as determined by composition of composite
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